


Sith’s Awakening

by Killfiction



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Multi, Twi'leks (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killfiction/pseuds/Killfiction
Summary: A gorey rewrite of the sequel trilogy, following a dark sith ritual that stemmed directly from the fall of Luke Skywalker’s temple. Caught in between, the terror and dramatics of a broken mind.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Leia Organa/Han Solo, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. Episode one, Aftermath

The image of bodies festering in a cloak of fire still plagued her mind. It was the outcome everyone saw coming but turned a blind eye to. Plivatti agreed that neglecting someone's needs never ended well. She experienced this first hand when her childhood friend, Kydraa Volique set the Skywalker temple into ruins. 

The Twi'lek couldn't be completely honest with herself; two days after a scant amount of three padawans escaped the blaze, she was still in complete shock. Plivatti clutched the spotted yellow skin on her arms, forcing back the tremors rippling through her body. There was a certain dread she felt by walking to the dinner table to face another one of the former padawans who was probably just as destroyed physically and mentally as her.

Vith, a kind old woman was giving the two shelter— two as in Plivatti and Leta Erollisi, a sturdier brunette human. The pair split after escaping the temple— Their ship landed here on a small moon just outside Vith's small home. Since then, Erollisi hasn't said a word to the twi'lek. 

"Teridan, was it dear?" Vith's wrinkled hands clutched the doorframe, peering in on a shaking Plivatti. "I made some dinner, you should eat." Concern riddled the crone's eyes, unaware of the full story. Leta had seemed to remain brief on why exactly they carved a hole in her garden with the spacecraft they rode in on. 

Plivatti adjusted her posture, swallowing down the thick dry desert of her throat. She didn't exactly anticipate facing Leta this way but it was obviously inevitable. "I'll be there in a minute. Thank you." The older woman retreated from the dark doorway without another word, allowing the yellow Twi'lek to pull herself together. 

"Don't be a bitch," she scoffed to herself, straining against her defiant muscles to stand and face her reflection in the scratched mirror that sat crookedly on the wall. 'Oh.. uh wow' Plivatti thought, initially seeing her reflection. There was a noticeable emptiness in the deep vats of her blue eyes, the once bright hues of her two toned orange and yellow skin dulled by the staining of ash. This went without noticing the once white cloth wraps that she donned on her head and lekku was now a sick brown. It was depressing. Teridan even thought so, seeing a darkly characterized version of herself staring back through the reflective glass. 

At the table Leta already waited, gnawing restlessly at her already scabbed over knuckles— earned by dauntlessly hammering stone with her fists to an escape her own quarters blocked in by debris. Her hazel eyes fixated on the empty table mat, unthinkingly disregarding Teridan entering the room rather silently. Leta had vomited her last two meals Vith tried to give her, feeling dinner was useless at this point. The shell shock didn't even allow her to walk straight at this point. Her mind was on the temple, trying to perilously process that horrific night. 

Plivatti sat far from Leta on the other end of the table, stiffly lowering into the wooden chair as if not to alert Erollisi, who was already deep into restless thought. She clutched her vibrating knees after associating herself with the empty table. It didn't take long for the dark and wordless atmosphere to close in on the two sitting alone at the table. 

Seemingly centuries passed by before Vith entered the room with a handful of bowls, containing a steaming amount of food. it was only until then did Leta lift her gaze from the mat, immediately noticing Plivatti and softening her torn expression. 

The twi'lek suspected this was out of empathy or just respect, but Plivatti somewhat expected nothing more of just sympathetic gestures such as this one but Leta was sometimes hard to read. 

"You girls enjoy this treat. I'm going to be outside if you need me," Vith broke the silence, setting food among the young ladies before exiting silently, sensing the discomfort. 

Plivatti and Leta exchanged short lived glances before taking their share of food, occasionally asking the other to pass a bowl but even small words came out hard to translate clearly, both of them stammering each time. It was obvious the two of them couldn't handle small talk at this point but words were itching to be said. 

In the end, one of them eventually spoke up halfway into the meal, tension screamingly leading the both of them to this point. It was Leta. "We should've taken him," she muttered, feeling it had to be said. There was a small hint of betrayal aimed towards Plivatti. 

"He didn't want to c-come. Ben didn't want to come." Plivatti muttered out painfully, the clink of her fork against the bowl signaling her defensiveness. "There wasn't a good reason to."

Leta pulled her head back, momentarily wordless at the twi'lek's firm words; so quick to confrontation— at least that's what Leta thought. "A good reason?? A good reason!?" Erollisi scoffed, still keeping her voice low from exhaustion. 

Silence. 

"Ben NEEDED us even if he was too stubborn to admit that," Leta toned her aggression down, understanding that now wasn't the time for the both of them to argue and knock their mental state down a few more pegs.

Plivatti knitted her brows at the nearly empty bowl of food she forced down for the sake of staying live. Her discontent continued on long enough for Leta to back off, picking her fork back up. "We couldn't force him to come. He wanted to apprehend Kydraa."

Leta held the fork to her lips before the other replied, thinking of how to convert her thoughts to words. "He could've been killed."

She understood the circumstances to that but stopping Ben could've gotten them all in the same situation. Not one of them was prepared for what happened. Leta and Plivatti didn't have the power combined to control Solo's emotional reaction to Kydraa's untimely path of carnage. "None of us had a chance. If the masters got out of the fire in time they might've stopped Kydraa in the end."

"That makes us cowards for leaving."

"Ji and Luke would've made us do the same," Plivatti combated, finally looking to Leta and noticing the feeble tears forming in the young woman's eyes. 

Leta didn't respond, rather just reuniting her fork with her bowl of food, nearly completely full from being moderately untouched the whole time. 

"We'll go to Hosnian Prime, okay? Come forward to the galactic senate or whatever.. if they'll do anything," Plivatti suggested softly. She knew it was something Leta would suggest given the young woman was known for her tactical intelligence. Plivatti hoped her words resonated with Erollisi enough to go through with it. 

"Alright," Leta complied, placing her palms flat on the table and standing. She ended the conversation by fleetly leaving the room somewhere else. 

That night Plivatti fought sleep, afraid of the terrors that would certainly rattle her psyche to the core. Instead, she stuffed her head with forced optimism but every positive thought ended with dread. Kydraa's snap wasn't unexpected. At least, to Plivatti it wasn't. She was the only one who even vaguely listened to Kydraa. Or was she? Ben was astronomically close to her. Plivatti was mostly confused as to why Ben didn't sense this coming. Maybe he was in the same position as Plivatti.. partly doubting Kydraa's fall the whole way down. 

She tossed to her side, feeling a sourness inspire somewhere in her gut. It was stupid and cruel but Plivatti gladly hoped her half sister, Val'enona, didn't make it out. 'No,' Plivatti asserted to her consciousness, feeling it wrong to stress the death of the younger sibling she only despised. Fantasizing her death was certainly not a medium of coping. Never. Plivatti acknowledged this, ignoring the sadistic nature for now. Eventually, she did end up giving into her exhaustion, ending on the positive notion that someone on Hosnian Prime would help. 

A haunting display of colors flooded Plivatti's eyesight. An inferno latched onto the temple's gardens in crisp tendrils, eating away at memories and lives. After watching a distant spacecraft leave the atmosphere she looked down to her hands, pale like human skin- scratch that- it was human skin. It was clear who exactly she was seeing through the eyes of. It was revealed by the star shaped freckle on her left hand— a dead giveaway to Kydraa Volique. What was this dream?

"Kydraa! Why are you doing this!?" Ben's voice drowned out the faint screaming and roar of fire behind them. He was disheveled approaching her, his sweaty features clear under the added illumination of his lightsaber. "Please stop! Kydraa!- No wait I just want to talk!" His voice sped up with desperation seeing her react in shock. 

Quickly Plivatti came to realize the loss of control in her body, being completely controlled by an outside party. At this point it came to her fully that this wasn't Plivatti's body, it was Kydraa's. 

"Get away from me Ben!" Kydraa's voice was hoarse and lost. Her tones weren't the same, nearly unidentifiable by Plivatti but her quirks still remained. This was still her childhood best friend, just scared and angry. "I don't want to kill you!" She lifted herself off the ground, igniting her brilliant blue saber to try and fend off Solo who ceased to advance seeing it. 

"Why?" Ben asked, on the verge of breaking seeing Kydraa this way. He knew this image of Kydraa would haunt him from here on out no matter whether or not he'd be able to claim her once again to the light. It was unlikely at this point. 

She had a hard time lifting her own weight, sheets of sweat coated platinum locks obstructing her complete vision. "Master Ji always said we would never be like the Jedi of the old republic.. Flawed. This is deceit!" She cried, adjusting her stance, preparing to fight Solo. "I couldn't let this happen!" Remorse filled her lungs completely, the sight of Ben's hurt eyes inspired heavy tears in her own. The act was impulsive but it wasn't something Volique could ever tread back on now. "I know the truth. It's the truth Ji and Luke held from us all! BEN, YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST PLEASE!"

Solo was silent through her pathetic montage of insanity, afraid of having to strike down someone he knew forever over something he could've prevented. ".. Kydraa.. Kydraa I KNOW!" He shouted back desperately, lowering his weapon upon thinking he'd won her trust here. "I felt it too. A long time ago. Voices tried to talk to me all the time. My father was the one to shake it off me. I haven't been anymore-"

"SHUT UP!" Kydraa hissed, tightening her fists around the vibrating weapon in her grasp. "You DON'T know how I feel because you STILL believe them!" She wanted to provoke a fight, obviously holding back from actually engaging in one. 

"Kydraa.. don't do this to me.. don't do this to everyone.. we love you- I love you!" Now Ben was the one crying, seeing exactly how this confrontation would end. 

"What's done.. is done," Kydraa's voice dropped into a valley of darkness, one Plivatti had never heard before. It sent a direct discomfort to the twi'lek's stomach, unable to stop these images from taunting her. 

"I'm sorry, Ben," Kydraa said, the words coming off as the syllables only muttered by someone who's accepted death, albeit peacefully or not. Kydraa acquiesced to the darkside already. She knew, Ben knew, and Plivatti now. She lunged forward with her weapon, clashing with Ben's in a frightening hiss.

Ben's veins thinned in fear, giving him the adrenaline to push back on Kydraa's strength with force. The both of them withdrew after a shockwave of power rippled through their bones, not wasting another moment to engage once again. Lights struck like vipers in the air with each thundering clap of their sabers, particles of dirt flying into the air every time the pair spun their sabers in a blur. 

"AH!" Ben yelped, blood appearing in his eyes. He didn't know what happened at first but it became clear Kydraa's saber had ever so slightly brushed the length of his face, barely missing an eye. A cloud of dust poured into the ashy thick air, silence falling as both weapons immediately deactivated.

Kydraa took a few steps back, dropping the hilt of her saber still piping hot from use. She knew exactly what she'd done to Ben, withdrawing away from him to relish miserably in her quick work. He was only trying to hold her off and Kydraa was aware of that— she couldn't care. At least, that's what the voices told her to do.

"Ghk—khhg.. kydraa.." Ben choked out, arching his back to the excruciating pain that burned his flesh mercilessly. The pain was too much for him to bear, eventually dropping limp into unconsciousness. 

The white haired woman didn't respond, flattening her hands to the length of her robes at the flanks, glaring out to the burning temple, seeing the form of her old master standing hunched at the entrance. She could tell, even from there, Jiaq was in pain.. in every way imaginable. 

She couldn't stand the way her heart broke in accordance to his, already in pieces right where he stood. Like a coward, she retreated away into the thick woods, leaving behind the deadly work of her hand and her past, every shred she knew would one day come back and either destroy or join her. 

Plivatti shot up from bed, wailing out uncontrollably against her hoarse chest. She desperately clawed her throat before her body allowed the twi'lek to engulf a lung full of air.

"Pliva!-" Leta jumped, standing right at her bedside from trying to wake the twi'lek. "Are- are you- I'm sorry—" she crawled onto the bed hesitantly, not knowing how to entirely comfort her friend but embracing her. Pliva acted likewise, softly sobbing into Erollisi's shoulder. Leta knew it had to be another one of those pesky dark episodes, reflecting directly onto that dreadful night. Leta knew this feeling exactly since the same had been harassing her non stop for the past day or two. 

"It's okay.. we're heading to Hosnian Prime today.. we'll get this all sorted out," Leta consolled, after a moment pulling away and encouraging Plivatti out of bed to get ready. 

Plivatti reluctantly followed Erollisi's shaky guidance, planting her feet on the ground weakly. "I'm- i'm okay I'm okay," she whined, trying to knock her lamenting down to basically nothing. It was hard to silence herself, especially when everything outpoured like an uncontrollable storm. 

"You're.. not.. get ready, I'll uh.. I'll get you some water," Leta held her hands out emptily to make sure Plivatti had her balance before hesitantly leaving the room. 

Teridan complied, gradually sinking down to her bruised knees, huffing back hiccups. She clawed at her face violently to wipe the images from last night. By the looks of things now, the day won't be pleasant by any means. How did she ever have high hopes? Especially for Hosnian prime.


	2. Episode two, Senate's Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo wakes up mysteriously on Hosnian Prime beside his mother, now General Leia Organa-Solo. Leta Erollisi and Plivatti Teridan try to rest after crashing hard on an unknown planet. All while in the midst of day, General Organa pleads with the senate.

Republic city, hosnian prime, hours after the destruction of Luke Skywalker’s temple

“Ben.. Ben. Wake up,” 

A soothing voice crawled into Ben’s ears coupled by a soft hand against his cheek. He’d assume everything was a dream if a sterile stench hadn’t breached his senses. “Hm?”

At his bedside sat Ben’s mother, Leia Organa. She looked overrun with grief and stress, so much so Ben could feel it before he even opened his eyes. “You’re okay now.. your father will be here soon I’m just,” Leia released a stiff breath, tilting her head once seeing her son’s eye open.

“How bad is it?” Ben asked, lifting a hand and feeling the thick cloth that bound his head, covering over one of his eyes with it’s mass. 

Leia didn’t answer him, adjusting uncomfortably in her seat. She had an aura of thankfulness that her son made it out alive and was oddly the only one that (she knew of) had returned from the destruction. In fact, if Ben never washed up on Hosnian Prime Leia probably would’ve never heard of the tragedy. “Master Jiaq Faye brought you to me. He said you were the only survivor he knew of.. other than Volique.”

Ben returned her silence at first, knowing full well Plivatti and Leta took a ship off the planet to who knows where but Jiaq could be right. They could’ve been killed. He didn’t have the strength to question this. “Is he still here?”

“No, he left. He informed me it was a hidden place. Ahch-To.” Leia said, her words seeming choppy and purposely unfinished. She knew nothing about this place but she didn’t have time to worry about where exactly Jiaq had run off to. She was worried about her brother, Luke, who failed to be mentioned. Ben sensed this. 

“Uncle? Did he survive?” Ben sat up slowly, muscles slightly agitated from all he’d done the night before, of course they held protests to him suddenly needing to be on the move. 

“No. No- No i have no idea. Ben, I’m hoping he’s alright. Jiaq left that detail out and I feel it was intentional,” Leia muttered, tripping on her words several times before rising from her seat. “I’m still figuring things out.”

Ben sat there speechless, not knowing how exactly to respond to his mother who was becoming more visibly stressed by the moment. It had to do with this first order thing she often voiced her mind over. He decided to leave her alone and save the chatter for another time— most likely not anytime soon.

“Get some rest. I need to make a call,” Leia sighed out, cupping her hands around her son’s cheeks and placing a quick kiss on his forehead. She didn’t say anything more and retired from the room, retreating outside the Republic City hospital to make an important call to someone she knew would have certain tabs on Luke— also someone Leia stressed over extremely. 

Leia gazed down at the holo-puck nestled in the palm of her hand, watching a hologram hiss alive, revealing an aging orange twi’lek with contrasting ember facial markings. “Eli,” the senator greeted remorsefully, deep down not wanting to ruin the twi’lek’s entire life. This became exceptionally valid after realizing how careless and happy Eli seemed. It wasn’t out of character at all. Luke hadn’t said a peep to her then. This only solidified Leia’s suspicion over her brother’s death but the absence of his life force wasn’t exactly a reality. 

“Sweetbuns!” Eiellea chirped, so thrilled to hear from her old best friend after a long day of work back on Chandrila. The two went back far. Further than Ben back when the civil war waged on. Eli was a medic back in the war, often around Leia, Han and Luke. (Who’s friendship developed..) 

Organa bit her tongue in regret, adjusting her fingers around the puck before working up the courage to speak up. “Eiellea. It’s about Luke. And your daughters.. something horrible happened to the temple.” 

Two days later 

Leta sat impatiently in the cockpit, toggling away at the confusing controls that spanned the entirety of that ship’s console. Plivatti watched from a small distance, hugging a blanket tight around her shoulders. She kept her eyes fixed downwards, dreading the moment she’d have to leave that ship once Erollisi figured out how to shut it off.

Thud thud thud

“Are you permitted to land here?!” A voice boomed from outside the hard metal walls. No, actually. Neither of them even had a license to fly. This wasn’t actually their ship too. 

Leta shot up, slamming a few buttons before swiveling her head over to the hatch which flung open, nearly tossing the man into the air. Good thing he’d stepped back previously. “Ah! I’m so sorry. We can explain,” she said, crawling over to the hatch and exposing her head to the cool morning air. 

“This is a private area,” the man glared, clutching his holopad close.

“I know-“ she started, rudely getting interrupted when attempting to do so.

“So leave.”

“It’s an emergency.” Leta asserted, quickly getting annoyed with this man. She clutched the door impatiently, ready to slam it back and knock this guy off his feet for good this time. 

Plivatti sat there in silence for a moment hearing the two bicker over a parking spot before finally standing up to become apart of it. “Excuse me,” the twi’lek grumbled out, glaring past Erollisi’s shoulder to look at the man. He was certainly balding. “Our temple was destroyed. Our jedi temple. It’s literally.. an emergency. Please.”

Leta snapped her head around to face the taller twi’lek, a glare telling her to shut up; and quickly. Plivatti didn’t take the cue and waited patiently for the man to respond. She hoped tossing out their tragedy like free samples would earn them some sympathy. Leta, on the other hand, knew for a fact people usually don’t like the jedi or more so don’t believe in them. 

The man looked unimpressed with Plivatti’s (truthful) story, unhanding his poor holopad to place his hands conspicuously atop his hips. “You have five minutes to get off this property or I’m alerting the authorities.”

“Okay. Yes. Fine. We’ll be out of your hair in no time,” Leta said, initially dealing with this rather stubborn man. It couldn’t have made their day anymore harder but Leta didn’t have the time nor will to argue here. There was still a matter at hand and if she needed to work a little more harder to get where she wanted then so be it. 

Plivatti thought differently, standing like a stone statue behind Leta, not allowing the human to shove her back inside the ship to move on. Normally, Plivatti would just want to bicker some more. She was just as persistent as this truck stop hog and it would take a lot to shoot the solid skulled Teridan down. This time was different. At first she was going to definitely have it out with this man before noticing a ship parked in the near distance. 

“Plivatti,” Leta growled, trying her best to push the yellow twi’lek out of the way. This proved to be harder than it should, so more extreme measures had to be taken.

“OUCH!” Plivatti yelped, crumbling under the stinging pain Leta inflicted over a pressure point. That wasn't so cool on her behalf but at least the twi’lek got knocked out of cloud nine there for a moment. “Wait! No! Leta!”

“We’ll find somewhere else to land.” The brunette said, closing the hatch once again and preparing the ship to leave. Her concern was sticking to the books and not getting arrested. Arguably, the other padawan didn’t mind getting her hands dirty— even if that meant being arrested in the end. For now Leta was going to ignore Plivatti. After repeated offenses back at the temple of this exact nature everyone who learned to tolerate Teridan learned to ignore her. 

Plivatti sat helplessly on the floor, stuttering nonsense to try and alert Leta as fast as she could but clearly nothing was working out for her. “MILLENNIUM FALCON!”

Erollisi stopped for a moment, her hand ghosting the lever for take off moments before Plivatti actually muttered that notorious name. It was enough for Leta, a trained Teridan ignoring professional, to stop and take a moment to render the image in her mind. “No. You’re kidding. What?”

“Han Solo would know what to do. He’s here. This is near the senate building we can actually get some help!” Plivatti leapt to her feet in success, running over to pry Leta off the controls. 

“You’re kidding,” Leta scoffed once more, letting Plivatti remove her from the pilot’s seat and jogging over to one of the windows. She recognized that flying hunk of shit anywhere. Master Luke made sure every single padawan was familiar with the likes of it. “That’s the millennium falcon.”

“I wasn’t lying!” Teridan shot back offensively, trying to cruise the ship back to the docks, possibly to get a better look at the Falcon or maybe to run over that small man. 

Leta quickly came to her senses and spun around to stop Plivatti. “You’re not using this as an excuse to get us arrested. Use your head we can get here another way! Work smarter not harder.”

“You make no sense! You’re working harder!” Plivatti shouted back, fighting Leta over the controls like two siblings over a remote control.

“Hard like your thick skull now stop!” Leta prevailed, using the force to push Pliva right off the pilot’s seat and taking complete control. This didn’t last as the flashing of lights were quick to blind Leta temporarily. “Kriff!” 

Three security cruisers surrounded the small ship, lights and sirens flashing in an attempt to alert the two women on board. To everyone monitoring the hangar, Leta and Plivatti were definitely on some sort of spice. Of course only that assumption would be made when a twi’lek was on board. They definitely weren’t getting out of this one Scott free.

The silhouette of a man and a woman stood perfectly in the middle of a brightly lit hallway. The senatorial building was filled to the brim, including the previously boycotted Leia Organa. The destruction of her brother’s temple was enough for the now resistance general to retrace her steps back to the republic senate. 

“Your career is ruined, princess. There’s not anything we can do up here. Why aren’t you just thankful our son made it out of there alive,” the man said, glaring down irritatingly at Organa who remained persistent.

“I don’t care who they think I am. The destruction of Luke’s temple as a direct assault from the same darkness our son faced. We can not let this go lightly, Han.”

Solo gritted his teeth, becoming impatient with the head strong woman. It was clear their relationship continued to sour. At this point, they stayed together for their son but this was a bigger reason to stay. Han was presented with the idea of peril that he could fight against. Hell, one of his dearest friends and most notably, Brother-in-law was allegedly killed in his own ‘magic’ school. Han went down this route before. “Look, I can’t do anything to stop you, but the least of their interests lie with jedi.”

Leia knew this was most likely true, turning her nose away from Han, saving a weak nod. “I know. It’s worth a try though.” Maybe her word with the senate would mean anything to even a select few senators up front. Leia most certainly wouldn’t end it there, even if the entire senate shut her down. 

Han understood this despite his opposition to her idea he had no choice but to support her fully and without any further questions. He trusted Organa’s intuition enough to stand by her word through thick and thin no matter how many times they hammered at one another’s nerves. 

Once Leia entered the senate meeting all eyes were immediately glued to her, crossed stares and scoffs filled the vast room in a low murmur as she came forward. “My brother, Luke Skywalker, a hero of the rebellion and ally to the republic through and through, was assaulted just two days ago while his school of children slept soundly. It was an assault of political beliefs. Many were killed and I expect the senate to look further into this. I sense up and down the tracks of the First Order, rumored organization looking to restore the empire.” 

Her speech waged on in a deep ramble between senators. Many accused Leia left and right based off her true parentage. It was a game of mistrust, all built upon the belief of Organa’s alleged betrayal. Not one senator put aside the time to believe her and it was crystal clear. That was, except for the closely watching eyes of a training Champalan senator, a chiss named Guerell Helix. 

The debate lasted another hour until it was settled on something Organa could only live with in the slightest. It was only to be looked into at the least. Leia resigned from the meeting, seeing it was worth a shot. With her new found resistance though, was where she knew to place her bets against this First Order.

“I heard all about it,” Han conversed with the shorter woman on their way out to the republic hangars. His skin crawled in slight defeat hearing the unfortunate outcome of the meeting. Leia didn’t have the odds in her favor whatsoever but it was still astonishing to see her come out with something. 

“I did the best I could,” Leia affirmed, knowing her rough conversation with Eli but a few days ago gave her the grit to pull through unwaveringly— she just hoped Eli recognized that. “The resistance will take care of this issue. If it means war in the near future.. on a certain degree I don’t care.”

Han knew the turmoil Leia was going through. It was unimaginable how she'd taken all these punches and still stood strong. He admired that about her. “I’ll get Ben. Head to the falcon and get some rest, alright?”

“Right.” Leia complied, concerningly easy. Maybe this was the first time she actually came to terms with getting a break. It was a very rare occurrence to be had for sure. 

The two ended up splitting different directions, Leia nearly dragging her feet down to the hangars before someone stopped her right at the doors. “General, is it?” An accented male voice sounded from behind her. 

Leia turned to see Guerell, recognizing him from the senate meeting. Of course, how couldn’t she have let it pass over her head. He had gaga eyes the whole entire time she spoke. It was obvious he was interested directly in the cause. “Oh, yes. That’s me. General Organa-Solo,” she greeted, offering a hand to the rather blue fellow. 

“Senator Helix. It’s a pleasure to finally speak with you,” he shook her hand, nodding his head respectfully her way. “I wanted to join your cause. That speech you gave was groundbreaking, really. I was but a kid when I sat at the edge of my seat everytime stories of the rebellion were issued to me.”

Leia chuckled slightly, not trying to see past his genuinity. “Your words mean a lot to me, Helix. I’m sure you’re passionate over my ideals. I'd welcome you into the resistance with open arms but do you really think abandoning your political career would be the best for you?” 

The chiss stared back at her, red yes hollowing for a moment while she spoke. He looked a little taken back by her assumption. “I’ve been wanting to resign for awhile, really.”

Leia sighed in content, nodding her head slowly at his decree. “Wonderful. When the time comes, Helix, you know where to find me.”

“You two better not cause anymore trouble,” An officer said while releasing Leta and Plivatti from their small visit at the local prison. They were now stuck to the streets of Republic City with seemingly no escape out of their current situation.

Plivatti was more so angry than devastated like Erollisi, stomping up and down the walk way they were dumped on. “We missed the senatorial meeting! Ugh Han Solo probably already left! They know nothing about what the hell happened to the temple!” Plivatti groaned, looking up to a large clock fixated on a pillar. 

“Pliva if you didn’t insist on getting a closer look at the falcon we probably would’ve caught them before the meeting ever started. Now we’re more than a walk away from the building and guess what! We don’t have a ship,” Leta condescendingly barked back at Plivatti, standing aside as a traffic light changed colors, watching the twi’lek get repeatedly shoulder checked by a mob of busy people. 

Teridan let it happen, staring blankly forward before the crowd finally passed and she could hear herself think and stand properly. “And what are we supposed to do? Beg for credits?” She challenged, walking over and standing beside Erollisi to prevent being nearly trampled over again. 

“Well what d-“ Leta was cut off from the sudden vibrating in her pocket, causing Plivatti’s lekku to curl in curiosity. She reached in, taking out a damaged holo puck. She nearly forgot she had that thing from the ship they crashed outside Vith’s home. “Someone’s calling.”

“What??” Plivatti’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates watching the puck beep and vibrate with a flashing blue light. “Pick up, pick up!”

“Wait, you don’t know if it’s anyone trying to track us,” Leta barked under her breath, naturally hesitant over something like this. She always had to consider the odds.

Plivatti growled, taking the puck from Erollisi and immediately answering the call, a deformed blue hologram shooting to life. She couldn’t make out what exactly it was other than being roughly the shape of a human. “Hello? Hello?? This is Plivatti Teridan, with Leta Erollisi.”

“Pliva,” Leta hissed under her breath, lightly striking the twi’lek’s arm.

The hologram slowly took shape, glitching off the platform every now and then. The form of a woman became clear. She had large doe eyes, stray freckles and blonde hair that waved over her shoulders. It didn’t take long for the two women to figure out who it was. 

The woman’s face lit up with unmatched relief and happiness as she recognized them as well. “Maker!! You’re alive!! It’s me! Alirei! Alirei Kenobi!” 

Alirei Kenobi . . .


	3. Episode three, Feet to rise on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now on Hosnian Prime, Leta and Plivatti just miss the senate meeting and are now trapped with no way off the planet. Meanwhile, Leia introduces Ben to the first Resistance base still coming together slowly, though trouble is far more rampant here in a different way. Senator Guerell Helix, the chiss, resigns his position as a senator to fight with the Resistance after taking heart to Organa's speech on Hosnian Prime.

“I saw the news,” Alirei’s voice dropped intensely, worry spanning over her continuously glitching face. She looked devastated, on the verge of tears almost. 

Plivatti and Leta glanced between one another cluelessly, more in the dark then they ever thought before. What happened during the senate meeting? Another attack? Did Alirei know about the temples destruction? She couldn’t have. The girl left to go visit her family often. There’s no way anyone could’ve gotten information to her.. everyone was dead. 

Alirei noticed the looks exchanged between the two. “Did you not know?.. the temple?” Her voice was quiet now, confused as to why the other two looked so puzzled. She assumed they were the most in on the tragedy, besides, weren’t they there— they should’ve been. 

Plivatti caught her mouth hanging open, quickly snapping it shut before registering her question fully. “Yes! That’s why we’re here!” The twi’lek boomed loudly, not paying any mind to the fact things were still dangerous, especially in a crowded city. 

Leta placed a hand firmly on Plivatti’s shoulder, another gesture asking for her to shut up. “Both of us were at the temple when it was destroyed- sleeping. We were the only ones who survived,” she whispered out, her stare becoming distant. 

Alirei became frozen with shock, her demeanor picking off of Leta’s in a reflective manner. “...everyone?” The girl asked, lip quivering as she held back the overwhelming emotions currently rifting through her. 

Plivatti was silent between the emotional exchange that Leta and Alirei shared. She never understood their relationship on that level, feeling a bit apathetic over the whole situation. Alirei didn’t pick up on this, muttering something incoherently. she touched her face excessively to play it off. Leta, on the other hand, did. 

The brunette lightly ground her teeth in discomfort, patting Plivatti’s shoulder to try and involve the twi’lek in some way. Leta struggled to pull the conversation back together, feeling an awkward tension arise after her failed attempt at consoling the both of them. “Alirei. We’re stuck on Hosnian Prime and we really need some help. Do you think there’s any way you can?” She asked, a gruff croak inspiring deep in her throat. 

Alirei sucked in her lips and bit at them harshly, using all her strength to speak as a normal person now. “N-no. No. I’m sorry, Leta.. I’m so sorry. My father isn’t letting me leave anywhere after hearing about what happened.. I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” She responded, slumping her shoulders in near defeat. The ambiance of the loud city seemingly mattered no more as the three shared a moment of hopelessness. Leta didn’t fully give in to the feeling, her mind already racing on separate opportunities they could come forward with. “Thank you for telling us though.” It was a relief to hear that Leia Organa did indeed know of the temple but that didn’t answer every question. How did she obtain this information? Ben would have escaped but the sudden unpredictable rage Kydraa inflicted upon the entire temple didn’t give him a chance, especially in his condition. 

Another interval of silence swept between the trio before Plivatti watched the hologram fade into nothing, revealing the vast, untouched city behind it. “...Credits. We need credits,” she produced out of nowhere, earning a quick sideways glance from Leta. 

“Jedi tricks aren’t profitable, but yeah. I was thinking that too.” Leta withdrew the look upon initially watching Plivatti stand to her feet, circling around the bench like a spiced up maniac. “What are you doing?” She finally asked, head twisting around to try and keep track of the twi’lek. 

Another crowd of people passed by just in time for Plivatti to silence her own thundering footsteps. “Leta, I’m a genius.” She leaned forward, turning Leta’s head slowly to face a distant shop.

“No.”

“What?” Plivatti was surprised by the sudden reaction, retracting her hands back like Leta was made of electricity that just shocked the twi’lek. 

“We aren’t robbing a place,” Leta assumed, glaring back softly at Plivatti. The assumption wasn’t too far from what the twi’lek would actually do— nobody would put robbery past her. 

“That’s not what I meant!!” Plivatti squealed. “What’s your dang problem? I know my way around getting a job. We can possibly get us enough to leave this place.” 

Leta considered it for a moment, her eyes trained on the shop Plivatti gestured to, seeing a man fiddle around inside it. He looked old and a little beat up. Morally, Leta saw an equal opportunity in this. “Okay,” she lightly swatted Plivatti away and stood to her feet.

The twi’lek’s face lit up with hope, seeing Leta for once saw the other’s ideas as liable and smart. It felt like a huge compliment but she could tell Leta was still unsure as she always is. “Thank you-“

She simply nodded silently in response, gesturing for Plivatti to follow her across the street into the shop. The two were quick, entering with large eyes full of opportunity.

The old man guided a broom over the checker tiled floors of his small shop, at first paying no mind to the obvious twi’lek and human who entered in with a trail of smoke at their tracks— he simply had work to do. 

Pliva detached from her friend’s side to flounder about the old man’s selection, seeing he sold utterly random things but Plivatti herself didn’t know what to expect from a corner store. Leta seemed slightly unimpressed by this but brushed it off, approaching the old man.

“Excuse me? I was wondering if you were accepting jobs.. at the moment?” She brought up politely, enough to make the man turn to face her. Leta swallowed hard, eyes trailing over the large scar peeking out from under the man’s eyepatch. She refrained from letting out a gasp but she didn’t expect him to be that wrecked physically. 

The man studied her, leaning aptly on his broom. He was humored by the young girl, enough to loosen the grimaced glare that usually sat on his wrinkled features. “Don’t be scared, kid. Just an accident— and jobs? People haven’t worked here since.. since some time.”

A wave of relief passed over her, nodding thankfully to the man even when he didn’t exactly confirm he was accepting jobs at the moment. It was odd how his shop flourished even without help. Did he get customers often. “Forgive me. My names Leta Erollisi and thats my.. my cousin, Plivatti Teridan,” she gestured over to the curious yellow slob in the back before offering a hand to him. 

“Soe’kon Strike. Locals call me Striker— and you two new around Republic City?” He took her hand, shaking it warmly while stealing a glance back at Plivatti who exchanged the look with a crooked smile. “I assume that’s why you’re looking for work.”

Leta hummed, thinking up a quick story. “Pliva lived with me for awhile before.. my parents dumped me off here and we have nothing. No home and no credits.” A pit in her stomach formed, either off put by lying or the fact she was all too familiar with the idea of being dumped somewhere. 

A small “uh huh” sounded from Plivatti who stepped forward to face Striker and Leta. “We’re really desperate. We’ll work overtime for anything. Promise.”

Striker looked sold. Two young souls looking anywhere for work? He believed in teaching hard labor while they were young, besides, he never passed up on an opportunity to help. “Ah, hell. How can I say no? I have been having a hard time lately.”

The two girls were all ears, silently listening on like attentive children. “Mhm?” They asked in unison, almost bending down to his level.

“Some thugs have been roaming the streets at night and I’m afraid my shop’s gonna get hit. ‘Would mean a lot to me if you girls took the night shift. Hell, I’ll even let you sleep here if you guard this place with your life,” Striker said, squinting his single brown eye. 

‘My life..” Plivatti thought, pulling her arms into a tight fold against her chest. ‘Perfect.. would work.. so.. well.’ Her eyes scanned Leta for a reaction, seeing her expression didn’t falter slightly. 

Leta smiled optimistically, placing her hands into the deep pockets of her torn beige vest. “So when do we start?” 

Ben held hands firmly against his eyes, a crawling agony festering under his skull. He couldn’t stand the pressure any longer. He hasn’t been able to sleep ever since he woke up on Hosnian Prime but he wasn’t there anymore. “Stop,” he grumbled, removing the heels of his palms savingly from his eyes, vision altered in blurry streaks. 

He jumped, hands slamming against the mattress of his cot. He watched as a pale hand reached through the darkened doorway, painted black nails scraping soundly against the wall before a full form of a woman manifested in his doorway, draped gracefully in solid dark tones.

“Hello??” Ben sat up, blinking harshly to try and adjust and see her full form, mostly shadowed by the large hood that sat over her head. “Who- who are you? This is my room??”

“Hello Ben,” her voice was ghostly like a vengeful phantom whispering airy spears into the room with her teeth. She gave him no time to respond, yanking her hood back to reveal a shock of brilliant white hair and blazing ember eyes. 

He screamed, jerking away from the harpy only to slam his head on the wall behind him, sending a clattering pain straight through his body. It was enough for him to blackout in shock for a split moment. “Rgh—“ he moaned, holding his vibrating skull until a rift of wind rustled his hair.

Leia pulled his door open, worryful eyes darting between each and every corner of his dark quarters. “Ben?? Ben are you alright, I heard you scream.” The anxious mother stalked to his side, instinctively checking if he was okay. 

His breath hitched, flinching to the brisk breeze thinking the haunting delusion was back for him again. “Mom,” his shoulders relaxed, finally releasing the locks of hair he had clutched between his fingers. “I saw her— Kydraa. She’s trying to kill me.”

“What?” Leia asked, knitting her brows as she tried to fully understand what he was saying. It was then she realized he’d hit is head. “Ben..” she pulled him to her chest and stroked his hair gently. “You need to keep your bandages on so you can heal properly. I unde-“

“I saw Kydraa— or at least an image of her. I think she’s still out there.” He spoke up over Leia, only noticing now how his entire body was rattled with trembles. 

Organa pulled away, hands weakly resting on her son’s shoulders. Kydraa was the girl who destroyed the temple; Leia had no idea who she was before Jiaq. “You two were close,” Leia assumed, expression falling flat to make way for his response.

“Yes.” He confirmed, lightly ghosting the tips of his fingers along the broad gash that painted his face horridly, wincing at even the slightest pressure. “She was a friend of mine.” 

His mother licked her lips thoughtfully, a harsh question passing her mind. “Stay here and I’ll get you some new bandages, alright?” She pulled away from him, turning towards the door.

“Yeah..” Ben sunk into his bedsheets, the atrocious fear of Kydraa returning already manifesting from within him in the form of paranoia. He was somewhat thankful for the lightsaber that sat idly on his nightstand, sending a vague aura of protection.

The previous conversation was one Leia knew she couldn’t take lightly. Ben has been through enough already but this ‘Kydraa’ started to seem just as much of a threat the first order was to the resistance— but for Ben. She could still be completely wrong. Kydraa could be a threat to everyone— but regardless the General couldn’t keep this a secret.

“Han,” the general sounded, entering one of the base hangars as the crisp-cool air of D’qar brushed lightly against her face. It was a sight to behold; the base slowly being put together by brave volunteers left and right. None of which included Han Solo, who stayed around his ship like a vulture.

He turned to his name like a dog answers to their own, pulling his hands apprehensively from his pockets as if Leia was going to beat him down with a metal rod. “Princess,”

Leia approached him, eyeing the falcon like it was a massive pile of Bantha shit. “Very funny, but right now I need to talk to you about something important.”

“And what is that?” Han answered quizzically, leaning on one leg to try and convey how laid back he was but the stark worry over his wrinkled features gave it away horribly. 

A small breezed passed between the two, brushing Leia’s stray grey hairs over her severely unimpressed expression. “It’s about Ben. He claims to be haunted by the girl who destroyed the temple. I think it has to do with the first order.”

The smuggler bit his lip, not exactly knowing how he was supposed to respond to her presentation. Of course he should be concerned but what can a guy like him do about stuff like the force? He patiently waited for her to continue, only receiving a sideways glare and crossed arms.

“I want you to spend more time with him, Han. Things are just as hard for him as they are for us, besides, I have so much on my plate..” Leia stressed, begging for cooperation from him.

“And what? I don’t have anything on 𝘮𝘺 plate?” Han barked, throwing his hands up in the air to protest her bossiness… ‘Maybe I shouldn't have done that.’

“Han please!” The general begged with her eyes, golden brown scopes digging under his skin in a way that always worked even if she didn’t know it herself.

Another wind brushed passed them, adding an ambiance to Leia’s beauty coupling her eyes he couldn’t really handle. ‘It’s for Ben’ he reassured mentally, nodding to Leia. “Yeah, I will,” he sighed in acquiesce as per usual.

“Thank you. So much,” Leia’s face softened, eyebrows upturning to show her full gratitude. She was laced fully in melancholy. She reached up, at first placing her hand on his shoulder before inching it up to his cheek and resting it there.

Han couldn’t help but fall a little weak under that, scoffing lighty and looking away. “Now don’t get too mushy, princess. I’ve got this handled.”

“Of course,” She responded, dropping her hand and sending him on his way as she had other important things to do— now including the small ship that entered the atmosphere. 

The two parted ways briefly as Leia adjusted her vest, walking out onto the tarmac as a few more people watched the ship descend down onto the unfinished base. It didn’t take long for Leia to realize who finally came to show up.

“Senator Helix!” Organa called out after seeing the hatch fly open to reveal a very worked up Chiss with a half assed smile on his face.

“General Organa-Solo,” he said, trotting off his ship and walking up to her face to face. “I got things all sorted out sooner than I thought,” a look of pride spanned his aged face, offering a hand to Leia.

“I’m glad you went through with it,” The general took his hand and shook it thoroughly, feeling a slight weight lift off her shoulders to see finally someone was working with her and not against her. 

“oh me too. It’s an honor to finally serve with you, General Organa” Helix spoke while on his toes, letting deep scarlet eyes scan over the expanse of the large base. “I might’ve put in good word for you to my piers.”

Leia chuckled, gesturing for Helix to follow her. “Come, let me show you around the place, Senator— and oh?” Her smile grew, looking up at the taller man.

“Oh no, just Helix, or whatever title you’d be sure to give me.” He bowed his head respectfully then nodded along to his previous claim. “I did everything I could to contribute to the cause before even becoming apart of it.”

“Oh, then perfect. They’ll love you here.” Organa led him inside, disappearing into the newly erect building. Organa had high hopes for Helix. His whole persona was trustworthy and charismatic. It was good to have someone helping out who had political experience. 

Ben sat on a small brick wall with his saber in hand, ignoring the newcomer and letting the wind pass through his dark dark curls. It was a calming experience, gazing out at the endlessly arant fields that made way for a thick wall of trees, sunlight hitting them just right. For him, he sensed a calm before a storm— possibly, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 storm.

“Hey, son,” a familiar voice called from behind him. Ben turned his head somewhat to see Han approach, a weak smile spanning over it softly.

“Hey, dad,” Ben responded, scooting over slightly to accommodate space for the old smuggler. He always came to Ben’s aid during the darkest times, something he was completely thankful over in the long run.

Han stepped over, sitting next to his son and peering out at the endless scape with him. “Dang, guess this place is gorgeous, isn’t it?”

Ben nodded in agreement, the homespun similar Organa look in his eyes reflecting perfectly in Ben, a sort of gentle perseverance. It was clear he was fearing change, though. Han noticed this like it was second nature, putting an arm around the younger Solo.

“Don’t look so down, kiddo. Whatever this universe is throwing atcha’ I know you can handle it. Whether alone or not. I once hit that point.” His father advised, watching Ben’s expression closely.

“Hm.. guess so..” Ben’s eyes drifted down to the grass behind the wall, his fathers words awakening an idea to brighten his mood. Nothing seems better than bathing in sunlight and going on a small adventure. “You know what? I think I’m going to go explore.”

Han laughed slightly seeing Ben’s posture change. It was exactly what he wanted to see in his son. “Welp, go have fun you little bandit.”

Ben hopped off, clipping his saber to his belt with a smooth click, saluting his father. “See you on the other side,” he said lightheartedly while pacing away from the wall out into the thick unknown.

“Maybe,”


	4. Episode Four, Nightlight Fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plivatti and Leta make themselves quickly at home now working for Striker, but now isn't a time for leisurely activities as things quickly go south. meanwhile, Ben isnt catching good enough of sleep, plagued by a haunting nightmare.

Another day came to a close over the busy streets of Republic City, the sun dipping under the metropolitan skyline to make way for the liquid blanket of blue that cloaked the sky during nocturnal hours. It was also the time many sat to rest, shutting their eyes or maybe not at all.

It was two weeks after Leta Erollisi and Plivatti Teridan enlisted in the help of a scarred old shop owner to aid their escape… since then they've racked up every cent of credits they earned by the end of each day when the sun eclipsed with a distant tower. This evening wasn’t any different. 

“Any tips?” Plivatti started, yanking perversely at the knot tied from her apron strings, annoyed all day how the thing loved to cut off blood supply no matter how loose Plivatti tied it without the thing falling off.

Leta sat on a small spinning chair that clicked and squealed with every rotation you forced on it’s aging mechanics, making Erollisi not the biggest fan of it’s prime use, often lodging her foot somewhere to prevent any spinning— like now. “No, actually, you?” Her hazel eyes darted up, not bothering to actually lift her head to make eye contact with the twi’lek who was now hulling herself onto the counter.

A silent yawn escaped the twi’lek’s split hued lips, drifting aimlessly through her pile of earnings with tired fingers at work. “Not much more than yesterday but when I look at the full picture..” Plivatti dragged on, craning her neck backwards to get a full view of her rather stout pile. “It looks like I’m getting rich,” she lifted up her hands, stretching her fingers to create angular shapes around her eyes as if that would improve what exactly she was looking at. 

“Yeah, sure,” Leta laughed, freeing her propped up leg to lightly nudge Plivatti with it given the twi’lek was slightly out of reach. “Yh-eww..” She gargled, immediately regretting her decision as the chair shrieked to Leta’s sudden movements. “Yeah no.” The brunette sprung up and kicked the piece of junk aside, wasting no time in zipping up her bag of credits and stalking to the back of the store. 

“You’re so weird,” Plivatti mumbled under an airy laugh, hopping off the counter and closing up shop. Now was actually the time the two relaxed, heading to their cots situated in an empty room they cleaned out together— most credit goes to Erollisi though. “Do you think we’ll ever have enough to get out of here in time?” The yellow twi’lek inquired upon finding Erollisi in the room, nonchalantly nibbling at yesterday’s dinner while getting her quick feed on the news as well. “... things are getting crazier out there.” 

Leta’s eyes shot back at Plivatti standing pointlessly in the hallway, letting the utensils she was using hang off from the grip of her teeth. “Yrrh, rh werh wnerhng erh ei rh ayehh eh oueh eh ime.”

“What? Basic, Leta, do you speak it?” Plivatti snickered, pulling out a fruity soda from their gross mini fridge and laying down with her

“𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗺— Yeah, I was wondering if we will make it out in time,” Leta soke more clearly after dropping the silverware into her bowl. 

“In time? For what?”

Leta set her bowl of food behind, feeling a cramp form in her gut from her body rejecting the idea of eating properly. “Tension is rising. More people are starting to talk about the Resistance and this fishy looking first order. It’s so weird how the republic is already turning a blind eye.”

“Woah, when did you get into politics?” The blue eyed twi’lek sat up, using the wall behind them as support. Politics scared her for reasons only an ignorant person would find valid— not for her whole quality of life. No, Plivatti was scared of the big words and technical nonsense. To quote her dad exactly, ‘we’re not exactly smart, just free spirited’ and she honestly didn’t mind that. You go, pops. 

Erollisi rolled her eyes, unbothered by this because at this point anything ridiculous was chalked up to the (not really) old jedi saying, ‘classic Pliva’... Leta was just about to bring it up before she caught wind of the shop door’s opening. They were certainly locked so it had to be Striker checking in before bed. “I’ll be back.”

“Hey girls it’s just.. me. I’m making a run of the place before hitting the hay, you know,” Striker grumbled about, a happy yet content old man as usual. 

“Hey old Strike,” Leta brashly called out, trotting into the main area to greet her boss. “Everything was good today if you were wondering. Finally got Plivatti to clean out the hallway closet. Found some cool stuff we can uh, dazzle the place up with.” 

“Oh! Yeah some of that stuff hasn’t been t-“ Striker was cut off by Plivatti smacking her hands against the door, signaling to Leta she was getting a call. Striker didn’t mind, waving off Leta to go take a look around.

“O k a y,” Leta pivoted on her foot just watching Striker hobble away to go make the usual but not daily runs of the shop. “Alright then,” she smacked her lips, taking her holo-puck from Plivatti and entering the newly empty closet to speak.

“Leta,” a sweet voice manifested before a hologram lunged to life, automatically glitching and diverging left and right. “Are you alright? It’s been a few days since we’ve talked and such heh..” Alirei stood there, picking anxiously at her hands.

“Did you talk to your father about at least helping out a little? It would mean so much and we can pay you guys back in the future.” Leta fell back onto the wall, an unimpressed frown practically begging the blonde woman into given in. 

“Ouhh..” Alirei whined, glancing over her shoulder every now and then. “I don’t want you guys to pay back, alright? It doesn’t feel alright, dear, it doesn’t!”

“Well nothing’s alright and it isn’t gonna be for awhile. Just please try and convince him the best you can?” Leta argued, not wanting to get loud but at times that felt unavoidable given how fried her nerves had become. 

Striker happened to be passing by the hall mid-conversation, making him pause and ease drop for even a moment. Curiosity panged through his ears hearing their cryptic words. He felt rude and eventually moved on to his office where the girls moved a few things.

“Ah, there you are you old thing,” Striker hummed, picking up a dusty box titled ‘work’. He set it down on his desk, ripping at the packaging tape to reveal a multitude of things. The first item his failing eyes landed on was an old dusty uniform. “Vice commander Strike.. gee I miss those days.”... the green was a dead giveaway for the Empire. Striker worked for the Empire. 

. . .

As resistance members lugged around large boxes, Leia Organa stood perched up on a small stack of crates, guiding people left and right with helpful gestures. The day was long and cold, preparing for the new year crawling ever so slightly their way. It was like impending doom, causing the General to glance every now and then to the distant forest which Ben had left to every single day since the first time he left on a ‘walk’.

Today, Ben has been gone for particularly longer than usual. This naturally made Leia tense and worryingly restless but she couldn’t exactly boss around her adult son. He took full advantage of this, spending longer in the forest to find anything of interest.

Ben glanced up to the sky, seeing an array of warm colors span overhead to signal the lowering star soon to plunge the area in complete darkness. He took no mind to this; instead, truding deeper into the heavily overgrown grove. In the twilight things seemed more peaceful.. sometimes clear. 

A low blue light shimmered in Ben’s peripheral vision, something hidden deep behind a bushel of thorns and large masted leaves. ‘Jackpot,’ he thought, immedia tely feeling an uncomfortable pull eagerly begging him to the location. Ben gave in, keeping his lightsaber at quick standby as he plunged his boots into the shrub. A path was finally formed, creating a perfect doorway into a small clearing.

Ahead Ben laid his eyes on a small pond, bright flowers crowning the shallow edges. It was an interesting sight. He never saw.. glowing flowers before. This was particularly odd to him. Ben almost believed he was dreaming if a bug hadn’t bit him then and there. “Ouch,” 

The flowers continued to call him, white petals glowing more intensely the more he got closer. Ben didn’t feel the need to hesitate, calmed by their presence. He reached forward, fingers gently pinching at one of their dark stems—

It was an immediate rush of unrelenting euphoria, sending Ben back into the deep confines of his mind. The next thing he knew he was laying in a field of flowers much like the ones that called him, only.. normal. 

“Solo. Solo! How many times have I told you, no more naps in the field.” A wooden stick was knocked against Ben’s head a few times until he came fully to his senses, seeing a bright blue sky above him. It was back at the temple— this was a memory. 

“Master Luke,” the young jedi sat up, finding his hair not madly tangled into weeds with the help of a soft blanket. It was Kydraa’s. He had to have fallen asleep while they were talking and now she was long gone. “Heh..”

“What’s with the face? Get up, we have a lot to do today,” the aging Luke said, walking past his padawan out to the temple which was surrounded in an odd angelic ring of light. 

Ben watched Luke head up the small hill, hands suspended neatly behind his back with said stick in hand. “Yeah! Sorry I was just.. daydreaming!” He sprung up, running after Luke to keep up.

“Master? … master?” Ben jogged to a halt, seeing nobody around. There wasn’t a single soul. Not even Luke who was just there previously. “Hello?” The lackadaisical atmosphere quickly became eerie to him, dead silence accompanying an empty world of sunshine. 

“𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘽𝙚𝙣“

It was now two haunting voices that rang through his head in a deafening tone. One was Kydraa without a doubt.. the other was one he couldn’t place— he couldn’t stop to think of who it was before reaching his lightsaber, no longer seeing it attached to his belt. Panic wasn’t slow to follow. His eyes darted obsessively around the area to see the never ending emptiness remain. “Stop. No.. go away!”

“𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝙪𝙨.“

“Stop!!” Ben screamed, running inside the temple which immediately engulfed in flames the moment his foot passed the door, world now dark with a lack of light. It was utter chaos, too many faceless padawans screaming in anguish and pain. He ran around mindlessly trying to avoid the wailing children and tall flames.

“𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴“

Their voices were softer now, comforting and genuine. It was like audibly melted gold to his ears, sending a small amount of relief through his mind before four hands reached out from the inferno to grab him. Their skin was a dark, glitching void. “AH!” He struggled against their grip as they attempted to pull him into the fire with them. “NO NO-“

“𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴, 𝘽𝙚𝙣“

“𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴.“

“𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.“ 

. . .

The night rolled on more peaceful than expected, usually unresting city streets dead with ambiance, save the humming yet occasional speeder rolling by. It was the perfect recipe for a much needed tranquil slumber. 

A dreamless sleep was impossible for Erollisi and Teridan. Almost every night was overrun with terrible, repetitive nightmares that hammered their skull in just enough to tire them out even more than they were before heading to bed— one in which both the girls needed to share. 

THUD 

Plivatti jerked awake, hitting her head on the wall loud enough for Leta to throw an instinctual punch right into the twi’lek’s stomach. “OW!” She yelped, shrinking into a tight ball to try and subside the sudden pain. “Leta!”

A gasp escaped Leta’s mouth dramatically before she realized she wasn’t punching out a wall cloaked in a venomous pyre. She then remembered the loud crash that initially woke her up from the torturous terror, for a moment believing she’d only hallucinated the sound. “Wha- what— did you hear that?” She whispered, frantically scanning the room.

“My head or that loud ass crash outside?” Pliva growled testingly while clutching her stomach and head. She wasn’t the happiest camper about being woken up and punched in the gut by her roommate.

“Shht!” Leta hissed, trying to get Plivatti to quiet down. “And.. im Sorry-“ she rose from their cot, sneaking out of their shabby room out to a window, peering through the dirty glass to try and see something.

The twi’lek quickly quieted down as she felt a spark of curiosity kindle inside of her, forgetting about being punched the moment she watched Leta creep out into the dim darkness. “Okay wait..” she stalked after her fellow padawan to try and get a look, not to miss anything. That would be detrimental to her short attention span. 

The street was barren for the most part, hanging faint light only illuminating a part of the sidewalk, street and face of a building. Leta strained her eyes to focus in the distant darkness that enveloped the majority of a wide alleyway. Something was moving from within it.. she heard faint talking though.

“What? Do you see something?” The twi’lek bobbed around to try and catch a glimpse of what Leta was so focused on, so far her efforts were uneventful. 

“Plivatti please,” Leta whispered and let her eyes fall closed. After a moment it was like she was right outside the alley, only still behind one of the shop’s windows.

“You know what happens to snitches, kid? Hm?” A male voice threatened. His accent was very flat and squeaky, coming out more like a taunting quack than an intimidating growl. 

“Please don’t hurt me, Ducky— i- I had nothing to do with it I promise,” another voice responded, trembling straight in their vocal cords. Their words were followed by another loud thud which Plivatti had to definitely hear; Leta feeling the twi’lek flinch. 

“I heard that!” Plivatti whisper-yelled, bolting like a frightened womprat out to the main area of the shop.

“Pliva-“ the brunette said, unable to stop the splotched twi’lek. She sighed, running after her and making sure every hatch on every single window was locked. “We shouldn’t get involved. Just keep an eye out, okay?” Leta was answered with silence, only the faint patter of bare feet producing a response. “𝙤-𝙠𝙖𝙮?“ 

Plivatti grabbed her shoes and stuffed them on her feet, also grabbing her burlap bag and heading straight out the front door, leaving Leta in the dust before she could even speak again.

Leta gasped, only seeing a blur of yellow and orange burn a path right past her out into the dark Republic City streets. “No no!” She reacted quickly, only grabbing her sandals and a near pocket knife to follow the reckless twi’lek out headfirst. 

“Leave that kid alone!” Barked Teridan defensively, standing dauntlessly in the middle of the empty street. For some reason she wasn’t scared— she hadn’t realized how impulsively she acted but it was like a rush of energy she couldn’t control. She didn’t feel like thinking about it now, more so focused on the dark figures that now shot their eyes her way. 

Leta ran outside onto the sidewalk, keeping her back guarding the shop door. ‘These were probably the thugs Striker spoke about’ she thought, clutching her pocket knife tightly. 

One of their forms emerged from the liquidy darkness, revealing a masked man, one who Leta now knew as ‘Ducky’. In his gloved hand was the bunched up shirt of a bruised young person, hanging uselessly in shock to the arrival of his unexpected and stupid saviors. “Ah, it seems a few little girls are getting brave. Is this whole resistance thing putting the wrong ideas in you fools’ heads?” He chuckled out, kicking the smaller person down to the ground aggressively, lodging his foot down on their soft neck, threatening to push down harder and squeeze them out like a tube of toothpaste. 

Plivatti took a few steps back, glancing over at Leta who looked equally as terrified, yet still refusing to back down. “Let them go! And.. i won’t hurt you!” The twi’lek shouted, adjusting her feet on the dark asphalt below them. 

The masked man chuckled, grinding the sole of his shoe deeper into the pinned person’s neck, causing them to gargle out a crazed scream, quickly being silenced with their own grotesque trills. “I’m not scared of you, twi’lek.. I’ll have your lekku as a necklace if I wanted.” He rocked his body side to side, revealing a hidden blaster from under his jacket, letting it catch reflective light.

“Pliva, let’s go inside.. and forget about this,” Leta’s voice wavered with anxiety, hands producing a thick film of sweat over her palms, making the grip on her knife awkward.

“Yeah, 𝘗𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢, go inside.. forget about it.” The man pressed his foot down harder, an inhumanly crack immediately sounding as a result. “But.. you’ve got me in a bad mood. Your skin is looking prettier the more I look at it, 𝘗𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢.“ he stepped off the choking corpse closer to Plivatti who was about to step away before the blaster was lifted to her head, nozzle pressed right between her eyes.

“Hey!-“ Leta finally strode away from the shop doors, afraid she’d watch her friend’s brain matter be sent across the ground and eventually over her own face. It was a bad move.

𝘽𝘼𝙉𝙂

A scream was coupled with the deafening shriek of broken glass, breaking the once silent night into one of chaos and loss..


	5. Episode Five, Wakening

“I cant keep doing this anymore, Leia.”

He used her name. It’s been awhile since he actually addressed her as anything other than ‘princess.’ The change in attitude was off putting to the General. She arguably hated how he still addressed her as such but now that he actually stopped doing it made her wish the change never happened.

“What are you- why- han? I-“ it took her a few seconds to let it fully set in, mind immediately being plunged into goo. She was unable to fully process how out of the blue his actions were. It was a normal day. Yeah, it’s been two weeks since they’ve spoken but the last thing she was expecting was for Han to just back out of it all. 

The smuggler released the crates he had cradled in his arms to speak properly, turning his head down in shame, lightly biting at the skin on his lower lip. Leia noticed his immediate withdrawal, waiting for him to speak. “.. I can’t keep pretending that things are alright. You got me by a leash, Leia. I know it’s for Ben but I can’t help feel this way.”

A heavy weight was replaced back on the General’s weakening shoulders. She was beat in this department, not wanting their marriage problems to get in the way of war. A resigned look spanned over her aging face, turning away from him. “A war is going to start soon whether or not any of us will like it. I’m not asking for you to love me anymore.. just please tolerate me.” She gave him no chance to respond, quickly leaving to get away from him. It was best if she did that.

Leia approached a pile of crates, setting down what she held and staring out at the barren night sky. She didn’t want to worry anymore about Ben, assuring herself he got back safely but the thought of him dead or gone in any other way chose to crawl back like a pack of undead. 

“General?” A voice came up from behind her, startling the zoning woman.

She turned around, focusing on the now dark blue appearance of Helix, sighing to see it was just him. The chiss was arguably hard to miss. He stood out from the usual humans that walked the base but was always surprised after seeing him so many times. There wasn’t anything inherently creepy about him. Sometimes the guy just knew how to disappear and reappear out of nowhere shockingly easy. Leia didn’t think much of it since he was usually quiet.. observe everything. “Helix. You startled me.”

The chiss chuckled under his breath, bowing his head respectfully towards her. “I’m terribly sorry, General. You just looked a bit lost there,” he pointed out, pinning one hand behind his back while the other calmly gestured out to the open field and treeline. 

Leia rubbed her hands together, following Helix’s hands out to the distant land ahead of them. “Right. Don’t worry about me. Have you seen my son, Ben? At all lately? After he left on his walk.”

Helix licked his lips, a knowing look appearing in the deep confines of his cherry red eyes. “No, General. Usually I do, though. It was off putting to my schedule. Usually it’s a cue for me to do my rounds and i got tired of waiting so here I am.”

“Huh. Was wondering why you were in this sector..” Leia’s mind wandered elsewhere, brows knitting with the deep concern that spread like a deadly disease through her body— sending chills to the ends of her fingers and pain in her twisting gut. 

Helix’s expression changed to that of disgruntlement in reaction to Leia’s. That certainly wasn’t good at all. He relaxed his shoulders, looking out to the fields then back at Leia for a few silent moments. “I could go out and see if he’s alright,” he finally spoke up, circling around Leia to get a better look at her face. 

Leia looked up to Helix in surprise, realizing she wasn’t hiding her thoughts that well as he seemed to look right through her. It wasn’t a good thing, she thought, seeing how she’s started to become more transparent with age when I came to stress. It’s the thing that happens when you have a kid who is legitimately good or nothing but trouble— Ben, a summary. “Yes. I’ll send someone out with you just in case. Be back soon.” She never complied to anything so quickly but Organa felt the need to trust her gut and the newfound intuition Helix gave off. 

“Ah, well. I’ll keep you posted, General..” Helix brought both hands in front of him, tying his fingers together in tight, stressful knots. 

Leia returned the tense look, seeing how Helix himself started to sympathize with her. It was like a huge ‘rest assured’ seeing someone mentally on her level of understanding here. Maybe he had kids? Come to think of it Leia knew nothing about Helix other than his name and vaguely a political upbringing. “Be careful.”

. . .

Ben breached for air the moment he felt the fiery hands release his skin, the ghostly sensation of burning still stinging his sore nerves. “ACK!” he coughed, feeling tendrils of water rush down his cheeks and shoulders… water? 

He double took the situation, prying his own eyes open to see he was on all hands and knees in the pond in the dead of night. What exactly happened, he didn’t know but a nagging pressure in his lungs slowly became evident. The pressure turned into pain faster than he thought, quick to try and violently claw at his throat and chest.

“A-AHHt..” Ben hurled, feeling a deformed object tear his throat and lungs open with each heavy cough and heave. It wasn’t long until he dislodged it from his throat. There in the water sat a mangled version of the white flower he first picked, stained in blood and saliva, destroyed by both. “What the?—“ his scratched throat didn’t allow him to speak properly, only leaping away fearfully.

A rustle in the bushes was enough to make Ben leap from his knees and grab his saber which sat completely dry in the grass. “Wh-WHOS THERE—“

“Don’t. Hurt me.” A voice quickly answered, entering the small clearing with Solo. A chiss. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 chiss Ben has been seeing around base constantly. Why and how did he get here. Helix held his hands high yet eyes low on the luminous weapon Ben wielded.

“Did Mo- the general send you?” Ben asked, deactivating his saber and clipping it safely to his belt with a brisk motion. “Actually, I know the answer to that-“ Ben cleared his throat, lifting up a single, testifying finger. “What time is it?” 

Helix looked back, another resistance member, presumably his escort tag along, approaching through the thick brush. “Uhm. Late. Later than you usually return to base.”

Ben glanced up to the starry sky in contemplation, brushing off an intrusive thought before going to wring out his soaked hair. “Yeah, I know. We should head back now.” He brushed past the two out to the main trail, not considering how confused they might be. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Helix swiveled around to try and keep up with the young Solo, his resistance partner just as confused. They didn’t ask anymore questions, lips sealed perfectly shut and followed Ben awkwardly out at a very tiring pace. 

Ben’s train of thought was elsewhere, leaving his physical body in autopilot. What was that dream? Was it even a dream? A lucid hallucination caused by that flower? He felt every single thing and could pinpoint exactly the sensation.. the feelings. Note to self not to touch wild glowing flora after dark. 

“You,” The young jedi said, suddenly stopping in the middle of the trail to look back at the two who’s eyes immediately fixed on him. “..” Ben fell silent, feeling bad for acting the way he was— he hadn’t even noticed it at first. “I’m Ben-“ he shakily held out a hand to the Chiss who glanced down at it cluelessly.

“.. hi?..” Helix shook his hand, face already twisted into a puzzled mug- an 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 puzzled scowl, actually. “Guerell.. Guerell Helix.” The belated introduction was.. enough. Enough for the chiss to relax even slightly, opting to stand by Ben’s side. 

“I’m sorry about that I’m.. kind of in shock. I think I’m crazy.” Ben only waved to the silent escort, glancing back at the rightfully concerned Helix. “I woke up with a flower in my throat.”

“Oh?”

“Oh yeah..”

Helix clamped his jaw shut, looking genuinely unable to respond to that. It was a little funny. “Hate when that happens.”

Ben snickered, pressing forward on their way out of the thick forest. Okay Helix was actually cool in his book now— he didn’t blame the guy for laughing. Ben probably made zero sense. “Yeah.. it’s.. really weird.” 

Helix strode alongside the younger man, quietly taking off his jacket and handing it to Ben. “I understand. Must’ve tripped on something.. you look soaked and cold.”

“Thank you.. I am..” Ben furrowed his eyes when being offered the jacket, saving a moment of hesitation before taking the kind offering. “It’s a long story. I know you were going to ask but that's.. all I can say now. It’s a very long story.”

. . .

A cascade of glass decorated the entire sidewalk in a brilliant rain of shards. It was all so quick, passing in the blink of an eye as people emerged from the darkness like animals pouncing on weak prey. 

“NO!” Leta screamed, getting tackled by a pair of shadowy figures. They worked like magic, tearing her faulty weapon away from her sweaty palm like it was nothing.

The masked Ducky stood there unfazed by the events unfolding, catching a collapsing Plivatti by the shirt easily with a single fist, reuniting his trusty blaster to the holster on his hip. “Take everything useful.”

Erollisi only saw a blur of colors as she was being taken down. Her eyesight was quickly filled with black, her face being aggressively slammed against the dark asphalt, creasing her nose easily like dropped clay. A thick, condensed pool of blood gushed from the mangled hole in the center of her face, staining everything else with it. “Stop!”

She knew what they were doing. The act was most likely premeditated hearing the amount of people scurry from out of the shadows to raid the shop and attack the two. She felt like a fool letting them do this but she couldn’t stop Plivatti who she assumed had a worsened fate but then again Leta saw nothing other than streaked, vague images before getting her nose smashed in. 

Footsteps patterned soundly around her body, dragging unknown objects around left and right, some crushing the fragments of glass even Leta herself felt pry into her chest and knees. If it wasn’t clear already, these thugs had some experience under their belt.

“Load everything onto the truck. Don’t be merciful, this old piece of garbage had it coming for him.” Ducky ordered, throwing Plivatti’s limp body onto the glass riddled floor, tracking into the raided shop like nothing just happened. “What’s this?”

Leta perked up, noticing no more hands pressing her to the harsh, unforgiving ground. What did they find? No. No no.. she had too many things to worry about having these thugs find but she had a hunch on what exactly they had in their disgusting hands this time.

“A lightsaber,” Ducky gasped under his breath. Just by the tone of his voice a smirk was evident to appear over his face if there wasn’t one already. “We could use this.”

The glass crunched under Leta’s feet as she forcefully pulled herself up to face the disgusting thug. He had his face off— it caught her off guard for a second. Matching hazel eyes. He wasn’t what she expected but it only stalled her for a moment given the moment she opened her mouth one of the shadowy henchmen knocked her right across the head. “YOU WON'T G-“

A sudden jerk awoke Leta, her body rattled by the metallic feeling. Where was she? The unnatural movements immediately signaled her in. There was barely any light but it was enough so she could see the faint outline of boxes and a cold metal wall. She was in some type of transport. Of course. She was kidnapped by doll face Ducky— or well, doll face from what she saw a glance of.

“Hnng,,”

Leta nearly screamed before realizing the warm body propped up against her. It was Plivatti and.. she was unfortunately alive.. waking up that very moment. “Pliva, oh my maker— PLIVA.” Leta struggled in her binds before eventually kicking the twi’lek fully awake.

“Ow-“ Plivatti sat up and looked around the confined space in terrified awe. “Leta where the KRIFF are we-“ she snapped, turning to the mangled brunette at her side.

“I don’t know! But I think that attack was set up! They wanted us to investigate so they could rob the place- plivatti, we’re kidnapped!” Leta spoke quietly not to alert anyone around. She didn’t know if anyone was actually around but from what she’s already experienced first hand she found no room in being brave and pissing off her captors even more. 

“Great.” Plivatti ground her teeth in shame, not even looking Leta in the eye.

“We’ll have to get out of this thing before we get to a second location— can you try and get the binds on my wrists?” She asked, pivoting slightly to the side, showing Plivatti the tight ropes that bound her arms together.

The twi’lek shimmied backwards, thinking of a way to untie them. She didn’t have a clue— Plivatti couldn’t use the force under this stress and especially when her own were bound as well. “Uhm.. uhm.”

Leta thought for a moment to try and help Plivatti, straining her eyes in the dim darkness to try and find anything of use. “There!” She whispered, using her chin to gesture towards a sharp object lodged in one of the boxes. “If we both focus.. and think.. we could bring it over here.” 

For a moment Plivatti stared down at her friend, stalling at her words for seemingly no reason. “Focus..? Okay.. ah.. uhm..” an unjust churn formed in her stomach. It was that of unknown origin.. most likely involving the force. Nonetheless Plivatti pulled herself upright completely, fixing her eyes on the object. 

Focus.. focus.. focus.

Why did everything turn out this way? At what point did Plivatti end up stuck in a transport beat half to death with one of the last surviving people she knew.. ever. All the other faces only blurred the lines between family and enemies. 

What was this new feeling? That.. object. It doesn’t want to move. She’s spent her whole life training to use her energy from within. Nothing was working. Nothing ever worked for her. They did for everyone else but Plivatti had to be an outcast. Unloved.. not enough.. never enough.. 𝗜 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛

The object lodged itself out from the box at lightning speed at such a high level of energy it had pierced the metal wall that caged them. Even Leta looked surprised, knowing full well she wasn’t the one to fling it right past their heads and so hard. “Pliva?? Did you do that??”

“I don’t—“ the transport came to a sudden halt, throwing them both to the back right under a mountain of junk and miscellaneous boxes.

It was seconds later when their eyes were blinded by a bright light filling the rusted metal box they were shoved into. Ducky stood there, stenciling out a section of light, casting his shadow over the two just enough so they could see. 

“Rise and shine, girls. Welcome to Darropolis.” 

Kriff.


End file.
